Hi there, folks! This is my first post, so my apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong area.

I decided sometime throughout the long, harsh winter that it would be a fantastic idea to get a garden started (mainly cause I have the space for it, and I want to be outside a lot!). I've never had my own garden before, but I've done a lot of research. It's funny how I read so many times, "Make sure that you don't try to make your garden area to big, because most people get overwhelmed and give up after if they make it too big." I figured that that wouldn't be a big deal for me, and it really isn't. But! After working through only a tiny bit of area, it really surprised me how little work I felt like I got done after a couple of hours! But, alas, I'm not discouraged. It's just so true that it's easy to get discouraged.

Anyways, I have a pretty straightforward question. While tilling, I found a lot of creatures that I thought were centipedes. I actually really enjoy watching bugs and creepy crawlers in their environment, so they don't bother me; however, I was wondering if they were a pest or not. I did some research and found out that they might not even be baby centipedes (which is -exactly- what they look like, to me), but symphylans (which I had never heard of until I was researching).

Whatever the creatures are, they obviously hate the sun. They would wriggle very quickly and escape back under the soil. The were quite tiny, and were a cream-ish color. I noticed that a bunch of them hanging out in a chunk of wet, decaying wood that I dug up, too.

I live in New Brunswick, if that's any indication of what they might be. I'm honestly just worried about whether or not they'll be a pest or not. I would really appreciate anyone's help or advice. Thank you!

Well I did a quick google, and there doesn't appear to be any concensus on whether they are harmful or not, or how to control them. This article is a good summary:http://bugs.scribble.com/symphs.html Basically they're only troublesome if there are a lot because they eat plant matter, and a lot is about 7-8 symphylans to a shovel full.
Dora